How to give a web designer a good brief

Websites are essential to development and success of most companies. So when employing a web designer to construct a site for you, it’s really important that you know what kind of information your designer will need.

Designers aren’t mind readers, and if left to their own devices will often present you with a final product you are unhappy with if not given enough information or instruction. Web designers have to choose from a great deal of software, graphic options, user requirements and technologies when designing sites, so being as detailed as possible with your designer can only help them do their jobs better. These four aspects are the basic essentials that the designer will have to know:

Logos: giving your designer a copy of your logo may seem obvious, but it’s an essential tool in determining your website’s aesthetics. With access to your logo, your designer can choose a color scheme which fits in with your corporate profile, as well as get a feel for what the ‘graphic identity’ of your company is: modern, vintage, arty, sleek etc.

Branding guidelines: the image of your company should be reflected perfectly in its website. By giving your designer your branding guidelines, it ensures that the language, terminology and ideas expressed on the website will all gel with your brand and how it’s trying to communicate its message.

Content: a website without the right content is pointless. But web designers who are left to make up their own content often get it wrong. Therefore it’s really helpful if you have at least some of the content already prepared for the designer. This will give the designer a good idea of what kind of information will be on the website and how best to structure the content on the site.

Special user requirements: you should also specify the special user requirements of the site. For example you might say that you will need a gallery slideshow or pop-up box on your site. These are great tools of web design, but your designer won’t guess that you need them unless you are explicit about it. If you have high-end user requirement needs this will also alert your designer if they need to invest in some new software or additional training.

If you fill in your designer completely on these four aspects of designing a website, you will be sure to get the most out of your designer and avoid disappointment.